{"id":162137,"date":"2020-12-07T05:22:01","date_gmt":"2020-12-07T05:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/facfox.com\/docs\/?post_type=kb&#038;p=162137"},"modified":"2020-12-08T03:09:41","modified_gmt":"2020-12-08T03:09:41","slug":"how-to-convert-3d-model-from-stl-to-stp-step-format","status":"publish","type":"kb","link":"https:\/\/facfox.com\/docs\/kb\/how-to-convert-3d-model-from-stl-to-stp-step-format","title":{"rendered":"How to convert 3D model from STL to STP format?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This guide shows you the basics of converting an STL file to a STEP file. STL is a 3D mesh format mostly used by 3D printers, but in the world of engineering CAD and CAM, most software requires solid models. The most universal solid model format is STEP (.stp, .step). Ideally, you&#8217;d begin with a solid model and avoid STL entirely, but maybe you found the perfect object on <a href=\"https:\/\/thingiverse.com\">Thingiverse<\/a> or you used a 3D scanner, and there\u2019s no reasonable way to begin with a solid model. Or maybe you&#8217;re already doing solid modeling, but you need to incorporate an STL model into it. This guide shows you a file conversion process that has worked well for me.<\/p>\n<span class=\"mkb-shortcode-container\">\t\t<div class=\"mkb-warning\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"mkb-warning__icon\">\n\t\t\t\t<i class=\"fa fa-exclamation-triangle fa-lg\"><\/i>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"mkb-warning__content\">\n\t\t\t\tDisclaimer: STL files span a wide range. Some of them are low-complexity, watertight, and can be easily converted. Others are extremely complex, full of holes and have many self-intersections, and will cause the crash of the conversion program. If your STL file is of the second type, you won&#8217;t be able to convert it. That being said, if you have no other option, it\u2019s definitely worth a shot!\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/span>\n<h3>STEP 1: DOWNLOAD A CONVERSION TOOL<\/h3>\n<p>Our conversion tool of choice is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freecadweb.org\/index.php\">FreeCAD<\/a> because it\u2019s free, relatively simple to use, and does a good job of converting STL files to usable solid models. Download it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freecadweb.org\/downloads.php\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>STEP 2: IMPORT YOUR STL FILE<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Open FreeCAD.<\/li>\n<li>Create a new file (File menu &gt; New).<\/li>\n<li>Import your STL file (File menu &gt; Import &gt; select your STL file).<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-162138 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/facfox.com\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Pasted-into-How-to-convert-3D-model-from-STL-to-STPSTEP-format.png\" alt=\"Import new stl file to FreeCAD\" width=\"1345\" height=\"789\" \/><\/li>\n<li>From the dropdown menu in the top toolbar, choose Mesh design.<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-162139 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/facfox.com\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Pasted-into-How-to-convert-3D-model-from-STL-to-STPSTEP-format-1.png\" alt=\"Open Mesh design from toolbar dropdown\" width=\"1345\" height=\"783\" \/><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>STEP 3: REPAIR THE MESH<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Open the Evaluate &amp; Repair mesh tool (Meshes menu &gt; Analyze &gt; Evaluate &amp; Repair mesh).<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-162141 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/facfox.com\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Pasted-into-How-to-convert-3D-model-from-STL-to-STPSTEP-format-3.png\" alt=\"Select repare mesh from the mesh tab\" width=\"1533\" height=\"797\" \/><\/li>\n<li>Select the mesh from the dropdown at the top of the Evaluate &amp; Repair pane.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-162143 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/facfox.com\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Pasted-into-How-to-convert-3D-model-from-STL-to-STPSTEP-format-5.png\" alt=\"Repair meshes one by one\" width=\"1108\" height=\"790\" \/><\/li>\n<li>One by one, go down the list, clicking Analyze and then Repair if the analysis finds any problems.<\/li>\n<li>If clicking the Repair button for &#8220;Folds on Surface&#8221; makes your mesh look terrible, you can skip that one.<\/li>\n<li>If clicking the Repair button for any other option makes your mesh look terrible, you\u2019re likely out of luck. However, you should still try the next steps in case you get lucky.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>STEP 4: CONVERT YOUR MESH TO SHAPE<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>From the toolbar dropdown menu, choose Part.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1533\" height=\"777\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-162144 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/facfox.com\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Pasted-into-How-to-convert-3D-model-from-STL-to-STPSTEP-format-6.png\" \/><\/li>\n<li>Select your mesh in the left pane.<\/li>\n<li>From the Part menu, choose &#8220;Create shape from mesh.&#8221;<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1533\" height=\"969\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-162145 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/facfox.com\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Pasted-into-How-to-convert-3D-model-from-STL-to-STPSTEP-format-7.png\" \/><\/li>\n<li>Leave the Sewing Tolerance at 0.10 (you can select a lower value if you want more detailed surface) and click OK.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>STEP 5: CONVERT THE SHAPE TO SOLID<\/h3>\n<p>This is the moment of truth! If FreeCAD is able to convert the shape to a solid, you\u2019ll be able to save it as a STEP file. If you get a red error message in the bottom left corner of the screen, you\u2019re out of luck.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Select the newly created shape.<\/li>\n<li>From the Part menu, choose &#8220;Convert to solid.&#8221;<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1533\" height=\"780\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-162148 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/facfox.com\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Pasted-into-How-to-convert-3D-model-from-STL-to-STPSTEP-format-10.png\" \/><\/li>\n<li>If it works, you\u2019ll see a new item in the list in the left pane that ends in &#8220;(Solid).&#8221;<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1533\" height=\"813\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-162149 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/facfox.com\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Pasted-into-How-to-convert-3D-model-from-STL-to-STPSTEP-format-11.png\" \/><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>STEP 6: EXPORT YOUR SOLID TO A STEP FILE<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Select your newly created solid file in the left pane.<\/li>\n<li>From the File menu, choose Export.<\/li>\n<li>From the Export dialog, choose &#8220;STEP with colors (*.step *.stp)&#8221;.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1533\" height=\"1004\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-162150 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/facfox.com\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Pasted-into-How-to-convert-3D-model-from-STL-to-STPSTEP-format-12.png\" \/><\/li>\n<li>Save your file.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Exporting your Solid to a STEP file.<\/p>\n<h3>YOU&#8217;RE DONE!<\/h3>\n<p>You can now import your STEP file into other software and do things like generate tooling paths for milling on a CNC mill. If that&#8217;s your plan and you haven&#8217;t done it before, we like Fusion 360 a lot. Its CAM features are the most user-friendly we&#8217;ve found. But CAM is a deep subject; if you\u2019re not familiar with it, we recommend going through Fusion 360\u2019s CAM tutorials and reading our Fusion 360 guide. If you&#8217;re interested in other common file conversions for CAM, check out How to Convert Gerber Files into G-code using FlatCAM.<\/p>\n<h3>Other ways to convert STL to STP online:<\/h3>\n<p>There are also some online tools to convert STL to STP online, although they have less versatility and performance, it&#8217;s worth a shot if you have no access to PC software. Below are the websites that can convert STL to STP online:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/3d-convert.com\/en\/convert\/stl-to-stp.html\">3D-Covert.com<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/3dless.com\/stl-to-stp.html\">3dless.com<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This guide shows you the basics of converting an STL file to a STEP file. STL is a 3D mesh format mostly used by 3D printers, but in the world of engineering CAD and CAM, most software requires solid models. The most universal solid model format is STEP (.stp, .step). Ideally, you&#8217;d begin with a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":162154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"kbtopic":[47],"kbtag":[157,55],"class_list":["post-162137","kb","type-kb","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","kbtopic-design","kbtag-3d-modeling","kbtag-software"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.1 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to convert 3D model from STL to STP format? - FacFox Docs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This guide shows you the basics of converting an STL file to a STEP file using FreeCAD and other online tools.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/facfox.com\/docs\/kb\/how-to-convert-3d-model-from-stl-to-stp-step-format\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to convert 3D model from STL to STP format?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This guide shows you the basics of converting an STL file to a STEP file using FreeCAD and other online tools.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/facfox.com\/docs\/kb\/how-to-convert-3d-model-from-stl-to-stp-step-format\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FacFox Docs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/facfox3d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-08T03:09:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/facfox.com\/docs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Pasted-into-How-to-convert-3D-model-from-STL-to-STPSTEP-format-13.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"752\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"490\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@facfox3d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/facfox.com\/docs\/kb\/how-to-convert-3d-model-from-stl-to-stp-step-format\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/facfox.com\/docs\/kb\/how-to-convert-3d-model-from-stl-to-stp-step-format\",\"name\":\"How to convert 3D model from STL to STP format? 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